Indonesia gov’t, police blocks anew People's Global Conference
11 October 2018
After harassing and throwing a wrench at the People's Global Conference leading to the cancellation of the event by the management of Radio Republik Indonesia, the host country for the IMF-World Bank Annual Meetings has yet again blocked the people's conference scheduled to be held today at Nirmala Hotel in Denpasar, Bali.
Around 11 PM. yesterday, the management of Nirmala Hotel, the new venue for the PGC, informed the secretariat that the police called and asked to stop the scheduled event unless a permit was secured from the national police Jakarta.
“This is unjust. We hold the IMF-World Bank and the Indonesian government to account for their human rights commitments, including peoples’ right to speech and free assembly,” said Kurniawan Sabar of INDIES.
Beverly Longid, global coordinator of Indigenous Peoples Movement for Self-determination and Liberation meanwhile stressed that “the PGC is a peaceful activity that was meant to gather civil society and people’s movements to understand how IMF-World Bank policies will impact the lives of peoples and communities.”
Ivan Enrile, campaign coordinator of People Over Profit, meanwhile took to task IMF-World Bank’s role in suppressing peoples’ civil and political rights.
“We question what are the criteria used by the IMF and World Bank for choosing the host country for their annual meetings. This is not the first time that these institutions have chosen to hold their meeting in a country hostile hostile to the free exercise of peoples’ right to protest such as Indonesia,” said Enrile.
A number of non-uniformed intelligence officers were also deployed at the Nirmada Hotel as CSOs and peoples’ movements hold a briefing. The intelligence officers were seen taking pictures and video of the participants without their consent. Hotel management drove away the participants and stopped them from holding a press conference in the hotel.
Yesterday, in a town hall meeting with civil society at Bali International Convention Center with the Managing Director Christine Lagarde and World Bank Group President Jim Yong Kim, Kurniawan Sabar of INDIES raised the repeated attempts of the Indonesian government to prevent organizations from holding alternative events to discuss the IMF-WB’s impacts on grassroots communities in Indonesia. Lagarde and Jim promised to look into the matter while ignoring and not acknowledging the fact that the World Bank and IMF have traditionally been responsible for shrinking peoples’ democratic participation. The island-wide ban was a result of the Annual Meeting taking place in Bali and the PGC is still currently being shut down.
“We are determined to push through. We will not bow down to the authorities’ desperate maneuvers to keep us from asserting our rights,” said Rahmat, national coordinator of Peoples’ Movement against IMF-World Bank.#
Reference:
Kurniawan Sabar (INDIES): [email protected] / +628112011868
Mohammad Ali (AGRA): [email protected] / +6282120135553
Syamsul (YLBH-LBH Bali): [email protected] / +6281347282321
Peoples Global Conference: [email protected]
Around 11 PM. yesterday, the management of Nirmala Hotel, the new venue for the PGC, informed the secretariat that the police called and asked to stop the scheduled event unless a permit was secured from the national police Jakarta.
“This is unjust. We hold the IMF-World Bank and the Indonesian government to account for their human rights commitments, including peoples’ right to speech and free assembly,” said Kurniawan Sabar of INDIES.
Beverly Longid, global coordinator of Indigenous Peoples Movement for Self-determination and Liberation meanwhile stressed that “the PGC is a peaceful activity that was meant to gather civil society and people’s movements to understand how IMF-World Bank policies will impact the lives of peoples and communities.”
Ivan Enrile, campaign coordinator of People Over Profit, meanwhile took to task IMF-World Bank’s role in suppressing peoples’ civil and political rights.
“We question what are the criteria used by the IMF and World Bank for choosing the host country for their annual meetings. This is not the first time that these institutions have chosen to hold their meeting in a country hostile hostile to the free exercise of peoples’ right to protest such as Indonesia,” said Enrile.
A number of non-uniformed intelligence officers were also deployed at the Nirmada Hotel as CSOs and peoples’ movements hold a briefing. The intelligence officers were seen taking pictures and video of the participants without their consent. Hotel management drove away the participants and stopped them from holding a press conference in the hotel.
Yesterday, in a town hall meeting with civil society at Bali International Convention Center with the Managing Director Christine Lagarde and World Bank Group President Jim Yong Kim, Kurniawan Sabar of INDIES raised the repeated attempts of the Indonesian government to prevent organizations from holding alternative events to discuss the IMF-WB’s impacts on grassroots communities in Indonesia. Lagarde and Jim promised to look into the matter while ignoring and not acknowledging the fact that the World Bank and IMF have traditionally been responsible for shrinking peoples’ democratic participation. The island-wide ban was a result of the Annual Meeting taking place in Bali and the PGC is still currently being shut down.
“We are determined to push through. We will not bow down to the authorities’ desperate maneuvers to keep us from asserting our rights,” said Rahmat, national coordinator of Peoples’ Movement against IMF-World Bank.#
Reference:
Kurniawan Sabar (INDIES): [email protected] / +628112011868
Mohammad Ali (AGRA): [email protected] / +6282120135553
Syamsul (YLBH-LBH Bali): [email protected] / +6281347282321
Peoples Global Conference: [email protected]
